Production of waist-bands



Sept. 29,1970 F. HARDAKER 3,530,504

- PRODUCTION OF WAIST-BANDS FiIedOct. 5, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet l M/uE/vroe FRED mm Sept. 29, 1970 P. HARDAKER 3,530,604

PRODUCTION OF WAIST-BANDS Filed Oct. 5. 1968 s Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 29, 1970' FLHARDAKER 3,530,504

" i PRODUCTION OF WAIST-BANDS Filed Oct. 5'. 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ZwlaM United States Patent 3,530,604 PRODUCTION OF WAIST-BANDS Fred Hardaker, Oldham, England, assignor to Andrew Baron Limited, Oldham, England, a corporation of England Filed Oct. 3, 1968, Ser. No. 764,899 Int. Cl. D06f 75/00 US. Cl. 38-75 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing waist-bands for garments of clothing.

It is the conventional practice to produce waist-bands for cloth by pinning them in position and applying pressure thereto by means of a press such that the band assumes an arcuate shape suitable for insertion into a garment.

This method is very time-consuming and inconvenient and the present invention seeks to provide an improved method and apparatus for producing waist-bands.

Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention provides a method for the production of waist-bands for garments comprising feeding a strip of material from a supply source to a table having an arcuate track, applying suction to the strip to hold same in position on the table and against said arcuate track, and applying moisture, heat and pressure to said strip when in position on said table.

Preferably, moisture'and heat are also applied to said strip prior to its being fed on to said table.

According-to a second aspect of the present invention, means for use in forming Waist-bands for garments comprises a table having a curved track and guide means at one side of said track, said track being formed of perforated material such that a vacuum may be applied thereto during operation. Said material is preferably metal.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided an iron for use with a table as aforesaid, the iron having a carrier for a roll of material, a guide for guiding material from the roll beneath the iron and means for directing steam on to said material as it passes beneath the iron.

Preferably also, said guide is provided with means for directing steam on to said material as it passes through the guide.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for form ing waist-bands;

FIG. 2 is a plan of the table shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detail cross-section of part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the iron;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the iron; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a detail.

Referring to the drawings, a strip of material 10 from which the waist-band is to be formed is fed from a roll of such material. The roll is mounted on a spool or reel 11 mounted for free rotational movement on a bracket 12 secured to a modified domestic iron 13.

3,530,604 Patented Sept. 29, 1970 The iron 13 is modified such that instead of steam being fed through the conventionally arranged outlets, it is fed out through a series of holes 14 (FIG. 4) arranged towards one edge of the bottom plate 15 of the iron. Steam instead of being formed in the iron itself, such as by filling the iron with water and using electric current to convert this into steam, is fed into the iron, via a flexible pipe 16, from a small boiler (not shown). Steam supply may be controlled by means of a switch 16a on the iron.

From this steam inlet, the steam passes internally of the iron, to the aforementioned outlet holes 14. Simultaneously steam is fed via a branch pipe 17 to a guide or bracket 18 located at the front of the iron (see also FIG. 6), and through which the strip of material is fed pefore passing to the treating table as will be explained ater.

The table on which the strip of material is to be formed into a waist-band, comprises a metal plate 19 having a curved track 20 and an upstanding guide rail 21 or the like arranged around the outer periphery of said track. The track is constituted by a perforated metal plate, and at one end of said track is a port 22 (FIG. 3), located beneath said table and track, and through which port a vacuum is applied to the whole of said track by a conveniently situated vacuum pump (not shown).

Thus in use, a vacuum is applied to the curved track 20 by means of the pump, and the leading end of the strip of material is then fed to the starting end of the track, electric current for the iron having been switched on and steam applied to the iron from the boiler. From the steam inlet 16 the steam is fed to the holes 14 arranged to one side of the base of the iron (preferably the right-hand side), and to the bracket or guide 18 through which the strip of material passes on its way to the table, so that said material is heated and dampened.

When the leading end of the strip of material is positioned at the beginning of the track, the iron is moved around said track, this movement simultaneously feeding the material from the spool or reel and pressing the material to the shape or substantially to the shape of the track. During this movement, the leading end of the strip of material will be held in position by the vacuum, as will the successive portions of the material being fed from the spool. The process is then repeated until the spool is expended.

When the strip of material has been pressed to assume the shape of the track, it is then preferably formed into a reel for subsequent use by garment manufacturers.

It Will be appreciated that since heat and moisture is applied to the strip of material by means of the aforementioned steam pipe 17, the subsequent direct heating by the iron will cause the strip of material to shrink and assume the shape of the track. Also, since a vacuum is applied to the curved track, this will aid the setting and drying of the strip of material fater it has been pressed.

The process described has the advantage that it is very nearly continuous, and hence very much quicker than conventionally known methods. It is anticipated that 15 feet of material may be processed in a period of 1 minute as against say 1 foot per minute by previous methods.

I claim:

1. A machine for the steam-pressing and vacuumshrinking of waist-bands in arcuate strip form for insertion into garments comprising:

(1) a table having a fiat plate support (19) upon which the strip (10) is pressed and heat shrunk;

(2) a curved track (20) mounted on said table defining the arcuate curvature of the strip which is placed thereagainst, said track being perforated along a width equal to the width of said strip;

(3) a guide rail along the periphery of said track;

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said curved track (20) is removably fastened to said table by screws to permit disassembly for cleaning.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said iron is provided at its front with a guide means (18) through which the strip (10) passes from the reel in front of the iron and then below the iron along said track.

(4) a closed bottom for said track including a port (22) for connection to vacuum which sucks the strip, wet with steam, to shrink it and aid in shaping it to the curved form of said track;

(5) an iron (13) fitted with a handle and steam inlet means (16) at its top and with steam outlet means (14) at its bottom along a forward edge to limit the exiting steam to the strip pressed below said forward edge;

(6) a bracket (12) on top of said iron which projects upwardly to mount a reel (11) of strip material; and,

(7) a reel of strip material (11) held by said bracket with the strip outlet emerging in front of said iron and below the forward surface to be pressed by said steam iron against the perforated track with simultaneous application of vacuum while the forward edge is guided along the curved path from one end thereof to the other end thereof.

References Cited UNITED PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

